Bush signs offer sheet with Titans

The Green Bay Packers have seven days to decide whether they will match an offer restricted cornerback Jarrett Bush received from the Tennessee Titans.

According to The Associated Press, Bush signed the offer sheet Friday. No terms of the deal were announced.

The Packers have the resources to match almost any offer Bush receives because they are $29 million under the salary cap. But the big decision they face is whether matching the offer would upset their pay structure and make Bush much higher paid than fellow defensive backs Tramon Williams, Will Blackmon and Atari Bigby, all of whom have more significant roles on defense.

Bush is one of the team's best special teams players and the Titans are definitely interested in him for that purpose. It's possible the Titans structured the offer so that it would make the Packers think twice about making Bush a high-paid member of their secondary.

Bush finished second on the team in special teams tackles with 17. He began playing safety midway through last season and was not part of the two specialty packages on defense.

If the Packers choose not to match the offer, they will get no compensation. The Packers put the lowest tender ($1.01 million) on Bush, which sets the compensation at the round the player was originally drafted. Because Bush was not drafted, there is no compensation.

The Packers could have given Bush the next highest tender, which is worth $1.575 million and would have set the compensation at a second-round pick. The Titans most likely wouldn't have made the offer if the compensation were that high.

Bush visited Tennessee and Baltimore this week and was scheduled to visit Cleveland.

About Tom Silverstein

Tom Silverstein has covered the Green Bay Packers since 1989. He is a two-time Wisconsin Sportswriter of the Year award winner.